The recession took a big bite out of employee compensation in 2009, driving wages and salaries paid in the state below 2007 totals, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Wage and salary disbursements in Colorado were $112.8 billion in 2009, down from $117.2 billion in 2008 and below the $113 billion paid in 2007 before the recession hit.
Construction and natural-resource firms reported double-digit rate declines in compensation, while retailers and manufacturers also slashed their payrolls.
At the other end, farm compensation rose like a bumper crop, up 15.1 percent, and many of the state’s more rural counties managed to post decent gains in average pay per job, according to the data, which only recently became available.
“Commodity prices are up, and we have had good harvest in the state the last couple of years,” said Shawn Martini, spokesman for the Colorado Farm Bureau.
Total compensation consists of wages and salaries, plus benefits that employers cover such as insurance, Social Security and payments to pension plans.
Wages and salaries fell 3.7 percent, while benefit payments rose 2.5 percent.
Private-sector compensation fell 4.5 percent in 2009, while government compensation rose 5.4 percent, boosted by a 14.2 percent gain in military compensation.
The figures are in the aggregate. Colorado’s average total compensation per job rose 1.8 percent between 2008 and 2009 — from $57,666 to $58,690.
The strongest gains were reported in eastern and south-central rural counties.
Kiowa County had the biggest jump in average pay per job in the state, at 8.9 percent, something county officials were hard-pressed to explain.
“We haven’t had anything new come in,” said Jan Rich ards, community coordinator with the Kiowa County Economic Development Foundation.
Farmers have done well, and county workers received an across-the-board pay raise, Richards said. But a couple of employers shut down, which might have boosted average pay if the jobs lost were on the lower end of the pay scale.
At the other extreme, Clear Creek County suffered a 9.5 percent drop in average compensation per job. Counties with the biggest declines tended to be those reliant on natural resources, tourism and second-home construction.
Metro Denver, including Boulder and Aurora, as a whole saw a 1.5 percent increase in average compensation.
Douglas County had the biggest metro-area increase, at 7.4 percent, and Boulder the biggest decline, at 0.3 percent.
Broomfield County reported the highest average compensation per job of any county in the state, at $77,720, while Hinsdale had the lowest, at $31,248.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
